Remote access to a SIM card (or UICC, smartcard) has been utilized in a number of different use scenarios in which the remote access to the SIM card enables other user devices to download personal information from the remote SIM user device. The personal information includes user identity, credentials, and so on, with which the user is able to enjoy services offered by network operators and corresponding service providers on the local user device. In this sense, the remote SIM access provides a capability to the users to comprise a “virtual” user device that is comprised of the local user device and the remote UICC. As of today, we can see several prior art references that give mechanisms, use cases or service requirements for the remote SIM access concept:
The 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) TSG SA WG3 discussed several different models and scenarios of IMS UE (User Equipment) function split over a user device like a PC connected to a fixed IP network and UMTS terminal with IMS support, which includes the scenario where IMS-Client on a PC and USIM and ISIM located on the UICC in the UMTS terminal are linked through some interface so that the PC with UMTS terminal can be used as an IMS UE.
Fixed Mobile Convergence Alliance gives the service requirements for SIM Access and Authentication service where a SIM in the mobile handset is being used as authentication token on other user devices for the fixed-mobile convergence environment defined by the FMCA (Fixed-Mobile Convergence Alliance).
ETSI TS 102 412 gives the service requirements of the remote UICC access, for example a remote terminal such as PC accesses UICC for personal data downloading (e.g. pictures, movies) and for content license transfer stored in UICC for DRM applications.
Bluetooth SIM Access Profile provide a means to allow user devices such as car phones with built in GSM transceivers to connect to a SIM card in a phone with Bluetooth, so the car phone itself doesn't require a separate SIM card (refer to IBM Developer Works, “Bluetooth SIM Access Profile,” http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/wireless/library/wi-simacc/).
ETSI TISPAN (European Telecommunications Standards Institute Telecoms& Internet converged Services & Protocols for Advanced Networks) also has introduced an IMS residential gateway that enables non-ISIM or non-USIM capable networked user devices in home or enterprise networks to gain access to IMS services with support of the gateway. “An IMS Gateway for Service Convergence in Connected Homes,” Tobjorn Cagenius, et al., FITCE 2006 has also proposed a similar concept by introducing the concept of the Home IMS Gateway (HIGA). The IMS residential gateway serves for the purpose to securely connect legacy, non-IMS user devices (e.g., SIP phones) that do not have the capability of using an ISIM/UICC, to the IMS networks. The IMS residential gateway is comprised of IMS terminal functionality and an ISIM application to act as a SIP B2BUA that interconnects non-IMS user devices and the IMS network. One potential embodiment of the home IMS gateway is presented in FIG. 1. With this scenario, remote non-IMS user devices such as an IP device 101 and a SIP device 102 utilize SIM information stored in an ISIM 103 of the IMS residential gateway 100 indirectly by means of the SIP B2BUA functionality 104 of the IMS residential gateway 100. SIP UA/UA Proxy 105 intermediates between IP device 101 and B2BUA 104 by converting non SIP signaling that is received from the IP device 101 to SIP signaling that is sent to the SIP B2BUA 104, and vice versa.
On the other hand, for realizing remote SIM access, some mechanism in the local environment is eventually required to dynamically discover available user devices (i.e., SIM and/or client devices), to pair up the discovered user devices, and to start communication between the user devices. As of today, we see the following prior art references:
Bluetooth SIM Access Profile provides the mechanism using standard Bluetooth technology of discovery and pairing.
FMCA gives a requirement that, in the convergence environment where a mobile handset is used in conjunction with other user device in the home network, the capabilities provided by mobile handsets should be able to be discovered by other user devices in their local environment using standards such as UPnP. It is obvious that a UPnP based approach has been a known concept for discovery of the remote SIM access service provided by the mobile handset.
Kapil Sachdeva, “Device coordination with web applications,” (2006-02), http://www.w3.org/2006/02/axalto-paper.html presented the concept of user device coordination with web applications with special attention to network security devices such as smart cards. This paper stated about the network concept where the smart cards are being built to use standard networking protocols such as TCP/IP and such smart cards will be discovered via device discovery protocols such as UPnP. No concrete solutions for smartcard discovery, however, are presented.